Introduction to AWS CloudFormation

49mBeginner2025-05-02

Authors

Brandon Rich

IT Architect, Adjunct Professor at the University of Notre Dame

Course details

CloudFormation automates provisioning of networking, security, and other Amazon Web Services. It’s an integral part of automated infrastructure delivery with AWS, and a must-have for DevOps professionals who are looking for ways to speed up IT deployments. This course provides the knowledge necessary to start working with this important tool. Begin by gaining familiarity with CloudFormation concepts, resources, and templates, then test your skills as you build your own template and use it to create infrastructure. You’ll also advance your skills with a deep dive into plugins, change sets, troubleshooting, and more.

Learning objectives
Implement infrastructure as code in AWS CloudFormation.
Apply CloudFormation concepts like templates, resources, and stacks.
Build your own CloudFormation templates.
Troubleshoot common errors.

Skills covered

AWS CloudFormationIT AutomationCloud DevelopmentDevOps FoundationsIntroduction toAmazonDevOpsNetwork and System AdministrationCloud Computing

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - Supercharge your AWS skills with CloudFormation
02 - What you should know

1. Infrastructure as Code

03 - CloudFormation and infrastructure as code (IaC)

2. Introduction to CloudFormation

04 - CloudFormation core concepts and terminology
05 - Anatomy of a CloudFormation template
06 - Understanding CloudFormation resources
07 - Launching your first CloudFormation stack
08 - Customize CloudFormation templates with parameters
09 - CloudFormation outputs
10 - Challenge - Use parameters to create multiple stacks
11 - Solution - Use parameters to create multiple stacks

3. CloudFormation Deep Dive

12 - Building CloudFormation templates with related Resources
13 - Launching a template with multiple resources
14 - Updating a CloudFormation stack
15 - Handling CloudFormation stack errors and troubleshooting
16 - Accelerating CloudFormation development with tools
17 - CloudFormation best practices

Conclusion

18 - Next steps